Quick Links:
- Game Information
- Rules Overview
- Layout
- Skill Shots
- Song Modes & Records
- Tour Modes
- Main Multiballs
- Other Scoring
- Wizard Modes
Game Information:
- Lead Designer: Steve Ritchie
- Code/Rules: Tim Sexton, Raymond Johnson (Rayday)
- Lead Mechanical Engineer:
- Artwork:
- Computer Graphics Art Director:
- Lead Sound Designer: Jerry Thompson
- Release Date: January 2021
- Code Rev: 1.16.0
- Feel free to contribute. Update the Code Rev, if applicable.
Led Zeppelin was Steve Ritchie’s final game designed for Stern Pinball, released at the start of 2021. Using the music and some of the motifs of the famous band, this game was hindered by several licensing issues but has unique rules featuring dynamic lit shots synced up to the band’s catalogue, as well as many different multiball modes and a unique “Icarus X” mechanic that can be built up by capping combos at the targets.
Rules Overview:
- Choose a song mode at the start of the ball. Each song lights different shots at different times in sync with the song. Keep the ball in play, and shoot the lit shots, to earn records; 5 gold records lights “Change Song” at the right orbit, with several other awards on offer for obtaining enough records and completing songs.
- Shoot the left eject to select one of four tours. Each tour has its own objectives and leads to a different multiball that can be started at the left eject after completing them. Right ramp relights tours if one has been played.
- Shoot the left ramp three times to start Zeppelin Multiball. On subsequent attempts, complete ROCK to light the locks.
- (Prem / LE) Complete LED & ZEP, then shoot the spinner that raises up enough times to start one of two Electric Magic multiball modes.
- After shooting combos, end them at any of the target banks to add to the Icarus X playfield multiplier. Use the Action Button to cap out combos if flashing and the ball doesn’t look like it will make it to a target bank in time! Complete a target bank lights the corresponding band member symbol. Complete all 4 and shoot the Icarus target to start the playfield multiplier.
Layout:
Premium/LE: |
Pro: |
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Skill Shot:
After selecting the song mode you want to play, plunge the ball so it hits the lit LED target, which moves from left to right and back every few seconds. Skill shot scores 500k + 5 seconds of ball save.
Song Modes & Records:
Song modes are chosen at the beginning of every ball and run continuously throughout the ball, even during multiballs and wizard modes (excluding Top of the Charts), until the song has ended. When a song ends, that song mode ends, and the next song and song mode on the list at the back of the game will start playing.
Your goal during each song mode is to collect 5 gold records to complete the song, and/or go platinum by collecting 10 gold records. Completing the song lights the right orbit for “Change Song” and scores Band Boosts. Record sales are collected by keeping the ball moving and shooting the lit arrows that change with different musical sections of the song. White “cue” lights will blink briefly between sections to show you where the next shot is prior to the section change, and each lit shot made - and record earned - adds to the values for subsequent shots. The sequences, and lengths, for each song mode are listed below:
Good Times, Bad Times (2:42): Shots alternate between “easy” and “hard” shots.
- Section 1 (intro): left orbit, center ramp, right orbit
- Section 2 (verses): left eject, left ramp, side shot, right ramp
- Section 3 (chorus): left orbit, center ramp, right orbit
- Section 4 (solo): center ramp
Communication Breakdown (2:28): All shots start lit and then break down in half until solo at center ramp
- Section 1 (intro): All shots
- Section 2 (verses): Both orbits, left & right ramps
- Section 3 (chorus): left eject, left ramp, side shot, right orbit
- Section 4 (solo): center ramp
Shots relight after shooting all lit shots in a section or when next section starts.
Whole Lotta Love (5:28): All shots lit during chorus and ending. Roving shots during drum solo. Center ramp is lit during guitar solo.
- Section 1 (intro): left orbit, side shot
- Section 2 (main): left eject, left ramp, right ramp, right orbit
- Section 3 (chorus): All shots
- Section 2 and 3 each repeat once
- Section 4 (drums): Side shot always lit. Two other lit shots start out at the left eject and left orbit and move over one shot together every 10 seconds.
- Section 5 (solo): center ramp
- Section 2 and 3 each repeat once again
- Section 7 (ending): All shots
Immigrant Song (2:22): Outer shots start lit, shots added on each side as song progresses and then reset
- Section 1: left eject & right orbit
- Section 2: Section 1 + left orbit, right ramp
- Section 3: Section 2 + left ramp, center ramp
- Section 4: All shots
- Section 5: left eject, left orbit, right ramp, right orbit
- Section 6: Section 5 + left ramp, center ramp
- Section 7: All shots
- Section 8: left eject, left orbit, right ramp, right orbit
- Section 9: All shots
Shots relight after shooting all lit shots in a section or when next section starts.
Kashmir (8:25): Shots can be merged into one and repeatably hit in some sections
- Section 1: Left orbit & right orbit lit. Shooting shot on left moves it right one and shooting shot on right moves it left one. Once both shots have converged, hitting the shot will start an 8 second timer. Each hit to the converged shot resets the timer. Once the timer expires, the shots diverge apart.
- Section 2: All shots
- Section 1 and 2 both repeat once more each
- Section 3: left eject & left orbit lit - Both stay lit
- Section 2 again
- Section 4: left ramp, side shot, center ramp
- Section 1 and Section 2 alternate until outro
- Section 5 (outro): Right orbit, right ramp, center ramp, side shot
Black Dog (4:45):Shots alternate between left half and right half until the end
- Left Section: left eject, left orbit, left ramp, side shot
- Right Section: right orbit, right ramp, center ramp, side shot
- End Section: left ramp, center ramp, side shot
Most recently hit shot turns off until a different one is made.
Ramble On (4:43): During verses, shots slowly move around playfield. During chorus, all shots are lit.
- Main Section: side shot always lit. Two other lit shots start out at the left eject and left orbit and move over one shot together about once every 5 seconds.
Shooting both of the roving shots before they move to the next shot will reset them back to their initial starting location at the left eject and left orbit - Chorus Section: All shots lit
Most recently hit shot turns off until a different one is made.
Rock and Roll (3:35): Shots alternate between ramps, orbits and all shots. Center ramp lit for guitar solo for about 35 seconds.
- Section 1 (ramps): left ramp, center ramp, right ramp
- Section 2 (orbits): left orbit, right orbit
- Section 3: All shots
- Section 4 (solo): center ramp
- Ramps section repeats
- Section 5 (ending): All shots
Trampled Under Foot (5:32): Shots alternate from ramps to orbits and then all shots lit during clavinet/keyboard section.
- Section 1 (ramps): left ramp, center ramp, right ramp
- Section 2 (orbits): left orbit, right orbit, side shot
- Section 3 (clavinet): All shots
Most recently hit shot turns off until a different one is made.
The Song Remains the Same (5:27): Shots slowly added one at a time
- Section 1: left orbit & left ramp
- Section 2: Section 1 + center ramp
- Section 3: Section 2 + left eject
- Section 4: Section 3 + right ramp
- Section 5: Section 4 + right orbit
- Section 6: All shots
Shots do not relight until all shots in a section have been shot or a new section starts.
Completing five songs qualifies Mothership Multiball, completing all 10 songs qualifies Top of the Charts, and going platinum during all 10 songs qualifies ?, all started at the right orbit.
"Change Song":
After collecting the required 5 gold records during a song mode, the right orbit lights for “Change Song”. Changing to a new song allows you to progress through the game, increases the song award value, and awards 2 Band Boosts.
Once you shoot the right orbit to change songs, the feature will unlight until you score another 5 gold records on whichever song you select. (Getting 10 platinum records in a song will permanently allow you to instantly change songs whenever you play that song.)
Tour Modes:
Tours are started at the left eject when the green arrow is flashing. Shoot the right ramp at any time (excluding wizard modes) to qualify a tour if one isn’t lit.
Upon shooting the left eject, you get to choose which tour to play by using the flippers and action button. Each tour has a different set of objectives and a different associated multiball; subsequent tours during the same game add one objective to the list and 1 ball to the following multiball, up to 4 objectives and 5 balls. In this way, each item you collect on a tour is a “tour lock”, with the final “lock” being when you’ve completed all items and shoot the left eject to start multiball.
The objectives for each tour are as follows:
Tour Name | Objective #1 | Objective #2 | Objective #3 | Objective #4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
US 1975 Tour | Ramps | Switches | All target banks | Combos |
US 1977 Tour | Bumpers | Targets | Left ramp | Icarus target |
Earl’s Court Tour | Spinners | LED & ZEP targets | Right ramp | Combos |
UK 1971 Tour | Orbits | Ejects | Center ramp | Side shot |
Tour Multiballs:
After completing every objective required for the current tour, the next shot to the left eject will start the tour’s corresponding Tour Multiball. These range from 2 to 5 balls, depending on which order they’re played in, and all four multiballs have different ways of lighting and scoring jackpots. All jackpot values are carried throughout and between tour multiballs.
- US 1975 Tour: Shoot the ramps. Left, center, and right ramps are lit for jackpots. Hitting a jackpot unlights that shot and relights the other two shots. Right ramp scores a double jackpot. After scoring 5 jackpots, the left and center ramps turn off and only the right ramp is lit for a super jackpot worth the sum of the 5 jackpots / double jackpots achieved up to that point.
- US 1977 Tour: Collect switch hits and shoot the left eject. All switches score a fraction of the current tour jackpot value, and add that value into the main jackpot, available at the left eject. Jackpot collects the tour jackpot value + however many points were built up from switches. Side shot scores a triple jackpot.
- Earl’s Court Tour: Complete target banks to score jackpots and add to the super jackpots lit at three different shots. LED targets build left eject super jackpot, ZEP targets build right orbit super jackpot, ROCK targets build left ramp super jackpot. Collecting unique super jackpots adds a +1x multiplier to all future super jackpots scored during the multiball.
- UK 1971 Tour: Shoot jackpots from left to right. Left eject starts as the only jackpot, hitting it will then light jackpots at left eject plus the left orbit. Hitting the left orbit will then light jackpots at left eject, left orbit, and left ramp. Hitting the faster blinking shot will relight jackpots in this manner. Right orbit scores the super jackpot, worth the sum total of all jackpots collected.
Balls can be added during all four Tour Multiball modes by shooting the Icarus target three times.
Play all four Tour Multiball modes to qualify World Tour Multiball at the left eject.
Main Multiballs:
Zeppelin Multiball:
Shoot the left ramp three times to lock 3 balls and start Zeppelin Multiball. On subsequent Zeppelin Multiball attempts during the same game, the ROCK target bank must be completed to light the locks.
Zeppelin Multiball starts with 4 jackpots lit, each marked with red arrows. Hitting one unlights it and lights a timed double jackpot (about 10 seconds) marked with a faster flashing red arrow at a shot you can combo into:
- Left orbit → Upper flipper shot
- Left ramp → Right orbit
- Center ramp → Right orbit
- Right ramp → Left eject
Once all four jackpots have been made, and all double jackpots have been either timed out or collected, the super jackpot lights at both the left eject and the upper flipper shot for the sum total of all jackpots and double jackpots achieved since the last super; the side shot scores 2x the value of the less difficult left eject. Completing the LED, ZEP, and ROCK banks while the super jackpot is lit will add a +1x multiplier to the super jackpot, up to 4x.
Balls can be added during Zeppelin Multiball by shooting the Icarus target three times.
Electric Magic Multiballs (Prem / LE Exclusive):
On Prem / LE models of the game, completing the LED and ZEP target banks, followed by making any lit shot, will cause the Electric Magic spinner to raise. Subsequent Electric Magic modes require additional completions of LED and ZEP. Once the device is raised, shoot the spinner to charge it up. Once it is fully charged, shoot it again to start one of two Electric Magic Multiball modes:
- Electric Magic Multiball: The first phase of Electric Magic Multiball is a hurry-up that counts down. Shoot the left eject or top eject to lock in the value, and set it as your jackpot. After one ball is locked, another ball comes out and a timer counts down from 20. The timer is locked in with one more shot to the electric magic spinner, and acts as a multiplier for the super jackpot; or, shoot the eject you didn’t make at the start to reset the timer to 40. Multiball then begins with jackpots equal to the hurry-up at all major shots, relighting when another lit shot is made. Super jackpot is lit at the electric magic spinner for the hurry-up x the amount of seconds remaining after 5 jackpots, with more jackpots required for subsequent super jackpots.
- Electric Magic Frenzy: This frenzy style multiball has 2 phases that it constantly cycles between: frenzy phase and super phase. During the frenzy phase, for 30 seconds, every switch except for the electric magic spinner (which adds 100 points to switch hits) scores a frenzy value and adds 1% of this value to the super jackpot value. Locking balls in the ejects multiplies these values by 2x or 3x until time runs out. After the frenzy timer runs out, super jackpot is lit at the center spinner for 15 seconds, with each spin scoring points determined by how many frenzy switches you scored during the frenzy phase. After the super jackpot timer runs out, you go back to the frenzy phase and the super jackpot value resets.
Other Scoring:
Target Banks:
The four target banks spread across the playfield are all associated with different features. Completing them as regularly as possible is an integral part of high scoring on Led Zeppelin.
- The two-bank of standup targets at the far left qualifies a ball save at the left outlane. More completions are needed for subsequent ball saves.
- On the Prem / LE models, completing the LED and ZEP target banks lights all major shots to qualify the Electric Magic spinner.
- Completing the ROCK target bank qualifies the locks for Zeppelin Multiball if they aren’t lit.
- Completing all four target banks lights Icarus X at the center Icarus target bank.
Combos & Icarus X:
Collect combos by shooting lit combo shots in quick succession, and increase their values by completing target banks. While the combo inserts are lit, hitting any of the four target banks on the playfield - whether lit or unlit - will “complete” the combo, or you can use a Band Boost to complete it instantly. Completing a combo ends the sequence and increases the target bank’s multiplier by +0.1x times the length of the combo.
Icarus X is built up by completing combos as described above. Each set of targets has their own multiplier insert shown under the tour lock inserts - the lower the multiplier’s color is on the rainbow, the higher the multiplier. The actual value of Icarus X is equal to the product of the 4 multipliers you’ve built up. Once all four target banks have been completed, the Icarus target lights for 15 seconds of timed playfield X + 5 seconds for every side flipper shot you made either before or during the timer. While Icarus X is running, any shots to the Icarus target itself will recalculate your current multiplier, and increase your playfield multiplier value if necessary.
Band Boosts:
Band Boosts are an easy way to complete combos and are used by pressing the action button when flashing green. Each game starts with 1 Band Boost qualified, and more can be earned by completing or changing song modes. Up to 5 Band Boosts can be saved at a time, and saving up 3 will enable Super Band Boost (flashing red). During single-ball play, Band Boost will instantly award 5x the current combo value and complete it at the target bank with the lowest current multiplier; while Super Band Boost awards 10x the current combo value and completes the combo, albeit adding the multiplier to 2 of the target banks (the two lowest) instead of just one. Band Boost spots a hit to the Icarus target during multiballs, while Super Band Boost instantly adds a ball.
Zeppelin Awards:
Every shot to the side flipper shot starts a super feature in the following order:
- Super Spinner: Spinner(s) values are boosted by +100k/spin for 100 spins. Goes away upon draining the ball. If you complete the 100 spins, the next time you start super spinners it will be worth +200k/spin, etc.
- Super Pops: Pops values are boosted by +250k/pop for 40 pops. Goes away upon draining the ball. If you complete the 40 pops, the next time you start super pops it will be worth +500k/pop, etc.
- Super Slings: Slingshot values are boosted by +100k/sling for 100 slings. Goes away upon draining the ball. If you complete the 100 slings, the next time you start super slings it will be worth +200k/slingshot, etc.
- Super Ramps: For 10 ramp shots, if any of the three ramps are lit during a song mode, shooting the lit ramp will score 2x the value of the song award. Goes away upon draining the ball.
Side flipper shots also add 5 seconds to the Icarus X timer. Collecting 8 Zeppelin Awards lights the left eject for extra ball.
Extra Balls:
5 Extra Balls are available on default settings, and can be collected at the left eject after:
- Collecting 5 gold records during a song mode
- Completing 4 songs
- Starting 2 Tour Multiballs
- Scoring 8 Zeppelin Awards
- Collecting 5 City Jackpots during World Tour Multiball
If disabled, extra balls score 10M and can be multiplied by the playfield multiplier!
End-of-Ball Bonus:
Bonus is determined by the combos you made that ball, plus gold and platinum records you’ve collected during the game, multiplied by the bonus X which is increased by completing ROLL at the inlanes and maxes at 50x.
Wizard Modes:
Mothership Multiball:
After completing 5 songs, the next shot to the right orbit that lands in the eject will begin Mothership Multiball. Mothership Multiball is largely influenced by the currently active song, as this is used to determine jackpot shots:
- Any shot that does not have a song award lit is lit for Jackpot.
- Any shot that has a song award will get a record sales boost that starts at +10,000 sales, in addition to normal sales for the song award.
- Scoring 5 jackpots will light super jackpots at any shot that is a current song award for the jackpot value + current song award value. Once the first super jackpot is awarded, a timer starts. When the timer expires, the super jackpots go away and sales boost is increased by +10,000. Shoot 5 more regular jackpots while super jackpots are lit to multiply super jackpots up to 3x.
World Tour Multiball:
After playing all four Tour Multiball modes, the next left eject shot will begin World Tour Multiball. This mode starts as a six-ball multiball, with all major shots and all target banks excluding the ball save target bank lit for City Jackpots. Collecting a City Jackpot removes it from the possible shot selection, and to light the next City Jackpot, you have to collect miles by shooting around the playfield. After enough miles have been collected and you land in the next city, the remaining City Jackpots you haven’t collected yet are lit. Collect one to score city jackpot worth (# of city jackpots collected x Tour Jackpot Value) and go back to collecting miles. Every 2 City Jackpots collected adds a ball to the multiball, and scoring 5 City Jackpots lights the extra ball. Upon collecting all 10 City Jackpots, super jackpots are lit and stay lit for the remainder of the multiball.
Top of the Charts Multiball:
After completing all 10 songs, the next shot to the right orbit that lands in the eject will begin Top of the Charts. This mode acts as a last-ditch effort to get all of your songs to platinum if you haven’t gotten them there yet. A bonus is scored at the start of the mode determined by how many songs you have gotten to platinum.
At the start of the multiball, the song you are closest to going platinum on will be started. The 7 major shots are lit to add sales to the current song; red shots will add 2x the sales and boost the sales of shots going forward. Locking a ball in the left eject makes sales and scores 2x for a limited time, and lights the top eject to increase the multiplier to 3x. Once you reach 999,999 sales, all shots turn off and the left eject lights to “go platinum”. Go platinum in every song you haven’t done so in to win the mode and light ?.
The mode can end prematurely if any song comes to an end, or if you drain down to 1 ball without having gone platinum. If this occurs, a sudden death timer will start - you must go platinum within this time or else the mode ends.
?:
Upon getting all 10 songs to platinum, either by collecting 10 gold records during them or getting them to platinum during Top of the Charts, the next right eject shot will begin “?” - Celebration Day Multiball. If platinum was achieved on all 10 songs without needing to play Top of the Charts, “?” will instantly begin in its place and award 2x the normal starting bonus.
During Celebration Day Multiball, all shots are lit for song jackpots based on the total # of song shots across all songs played; shots to the left ramp score the current Zeppelin Multiball jackpot, and right ramp shots score the current Tour Multiball jackpot in addition to the song jackpots. 10% of all jackpots during the mode are added into the super jackpot, which can be collected at the side flipper shot.
When you drain down to 1 ball, super jackpots are lit on a timer at all major shots and all target banks excluding the ball save target bank. Scoring a super jackpot unlights it and increases the super jackpot multiplier by +1x, while shooting the left eject during the super jackpot phase relights all shots and resets the super jackpot multiplier. Draining or running out of time ends the mode and scores a diamond record that multiplies end-of-ball bonus by an additional +1x.